Browsing: Air Force

One side effect to football season, at least every four years: Somebody insists on holding an election. This year, the Republican National Convention will conclude the same day the college football season begins. And by the time Navy and Air Force kick off Sept. 1, the Democrats will be trickling into Charlotte for their gathering. Where do politics and academy football intersect? Why, at the top, of course: Here, President Obama shakes hands with Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson during an April 23 ceremony in the East Room of the White House. At the ceremony, Obama presented the Falcons with…

They say swimsuit shots equal Web traffic. So: These particular beach bums date from the pre-Hasselhoff era — 1980, to be exact. And they’re not exactly bums. That’s the Air Force football team jogging on Waikiki Beach, according to the caption provided by the National Archives, before facing Hawaii in a season-ending showdown. The details may be lost to history — for one thing, the National Archives dates the picture Dec. 3, 1980, and the teams played Nov. 29, according to the Air Force media guide. This much is clear: The Falcons wouldn’t have much reason to be gallivanting around…

A picture that has everything: Two Air Force legends in their 1960s finest, painfully attempting to make a staged photo not look staged in the slightest: On the left is Ben Martin, who took over the Air Force program in 1958. In his first season, the Falcons’ fourth overall, he led Air Force to its only undefeated record and a berth in the Cotton Bowl, where his squad fought to a scoreless tie with TCU. Martin, a Naval Academy grad, coached 20 years at Air Force. He would later work as a broadcaster with ABC Sports, then return to Colorado…

Sometimes, school pride just bursts free: That’s Lt. Col. Scott Thomas, All-American defensive back for Air Force in 1985, playing to the Colorado Springs crowd as a special guest of the ESPN “College GameDay” crew in 2009. ESPN brought their pregame festivities to the academy that year before the Army-Air Force game, which the Falcons won 35-7. Thomas served as a guest analyst. His impartiality might be a tad suspect. Thomas was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame earlier this year. His coach for that 1985 season, Fisher DeBerry, was part of the 2011 class.

We’ve done Army. We’ve done Navy. We won’t promise service academy equality from here on out, but for the third day of our countdown to kickoff, here’s a shot of Air Force defensive standout Chad Hennings, a four-year letterman, consensus All-American and Outland Trophy winner for college football’s best lineman. It’s a familiar site for Air Force fans in the ’80s — Hennings standing tall with an opposing player on the ground. Post your Air Force memories below, along with suggestions for future picture subjects.

Rapid-fire military-sports links for a Wednesday morning: Irish invasion. Notre Dame will play Air Force at Falcon Stadium in 2013, according to this report by Frank Schwab in The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette, as school officials decided against moving the game to Sports Authority Field, home to the NFL’s Denver Broncos. Jim Trego, the school’s senior associate athletic director, told Schwab the move was designed to keep the marquee matchup, set for sometime in late September (Update: Make that Oct. 26, 2013), “in front of our home fans.” Those home fans could be busy in the coming years: Air Force…

Three quick hits for a Thursday while you review your summer swim safety techniques: 1. Stann speaks. Straight from “The All-American” himself: No one is more disappointed than I, meant the world to headline a UFC, seperated shoulder, rehab will start tomorrow, back asap, apologies — Brian Stann (@BrianStann) June 6, 2012 Stann will miss his scheduled main-event middleweight fight with Hector Lombard, set for Aug. 4 in Los Angeles. The UFC’s web site now lists Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Brandon Vera as the main event at 205 pounds. Reports have Lombard facing Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 in July,…

It’s the day after the unofficial start of summer. So, time for football news: 1. Singleton still a standout. As part of a 2007 Navy offense that included Eric Kettani, Shun White and Tyree Barnes, slotback Zerbin Singleton managed 484 yards rushing and a team-high 263 yards receiving. Those numbers may earn him a spot in the Navy’s media guide, but not in the annals of military history. Don’t worry — he’s got that covered. Marine 1st Lt. Singleton recently became the last in a long line of CH-46 pilots; the “Phrog,” in service since Vietnam, is being phased out.…

The death of former West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart on Monday brought about many tributes and remembrances, many with a common theme — mourning the loss of “a true Mountaineer” and “a rock-solid West Virginian.” Stewart was born in West Virginia and died on a golf course in that state nearly 60 years later of an apparent heart attack. But his coaching career — which ended in 2010 after a decade with WVU, including three years in the top job — took him all over the place, with stops in Arizona, Canada, North Carolina, and on the sidelines of…

Three quick hits for a Monday afternoon: 1. Clark’s dad: He didn’t know. The news broke Friday and The Associated Press picked it up Saturday: Senior Air Force running back Asher Clark, second on the Falcons’ all-time rushing list, is no longer at the school, reportedly after being part of an academy investigation into illegal drug use. Sunday, Frank Schwab at The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette gave the Clark family’s side of the story via Asher’s father, Mark, who said his son thought he was smoking tobacco at a March 2011 party when in fact he’d been given a pipe…